The spectacular victory of the BJP in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections has dampened the morale of the Congress which is trying to emerge as a major force in Telangana and stage a comeback in Andhra Pradesh in the next elections two-and-a-half years from now. Moreover, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which is in power in Telangana, is likely to move closer to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
TRS president and Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) has written a letter congratulating the PM on Saturday evening and hinted that he was interested in working with the BJP in the coming days. KCR has been waiting for the UP Assembly election results to decide his next political move at the national level.
“Congratulations to you on the phenomenal success of your party in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand Assembly elections. I am sure this will inspire you to work with renewed energy towards progress and prosperity of the nation,” said KCR in a letter addressed to the PM.
The sweep of “Modi wave” in UP has almost stumped the Congress in Telangana which has been trying to project itself as a replacement to the ruling TRS. But the faction ridden Congress is unable to put up a concerted show as a credible opposition on a host of public issues in the last two-and-a-half years, thanks to the lack of support from the high command.
Several senior Telangana Congress leaders who gathered at party headquarters Gandhi Bhawan in the the morning left for home after the results suggested a washout in UP. Though the party has done well in Punjab, the leaders didn’t celebrate it much as the victory was attributed to the local leadership in the state and the anti-incumbency of the SAD government.
“A victory in UP would have given us an energy boost as the crucial state is necessary for our future politics. But we failed to create any impact in UP despite of our alliance with the SP,” said Congress Legislature Party leader K. Jana Reddy. There was a pall of gloom in the Congress office in the Assembly which is in its budget session. The Telangana Congress, which has 17 MLAs, is divided into minor groups and a dominant section led by senior MLA Komatireddy Venkat Reddy was trying to replace present Pradesh Congress Committee leader N. Uttam Kumar Reddy with someone from their camp, if the party won the UP elections. But now the Venkat Reddy faction is not so enthusiastic to take up the PCC leadership.
Congress leaders in AP, too, are disheartened by the BJP’s historic win in UP. “Naturally, we depend on our leader Rahul Gandhi for our campaign and other coordination issues, but if he is unable to deliver results, definitely, our prospects would be impacted,” said a senior Congress former minister who refused to be quoted. AP PCC spokesman J. Gautham told this newspaper that the UP results have “deeply dented the morale” of the party.
On the other hand, AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has congratulated both the PM and BJP president Amit Shah for their success in UP and Uttarakhand. Addressing a private function in Vijayawada on Saturday evening, Naidu said that the state had benefited a lot out of the BJP government’s support in the past two years.
BJP leaders in both the states are in an upbeat mood and indicated that they would play a bigger role in the days to come. In Hyderabad, BJP leaders celebrated Holi and the party win in UP. Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya joined other leaders and said that the party would emerge as a major force in Telangana in the next two years.